427 



shown that even 

 it contains many i 



medical informatio 

 is roughly double. 



20 



edical information is supplied by patients themselves 

 es. Other studies have demonstrated that when 

 from "proxy" interviews the rate of error 



Let us look at an e'^mjile supplied by Or. Sawyer of how the 



ififormation on smoking habits was^^jrganlzed in the report: 



- y "Consider a fifty year old m^r^'who smoked for one year 



'^l^ only while in college, but, durfla^ a part of that time, 

 '"■y smoked in excess of one pack per ^^ ■ This was 31 

 •'^ears ago. He has not smoked sinCelhat time. How- 

 ey^r, he v/as classified in the stiiay as A former heavy 

 smcXer because the study did not distingi>^h between 

 longtime exposure to smoke and casual elH&sur«. 

 It contained absolutely no information about W^l ex- 

 posure. O^ "^O V 



"Further, assd^e that this man, classified as s form«r 

 heavy smoker, rS^tiirc from work last year after 

 being scalded whcrfi-. safety valve fell from a radiator, 

 allowing steam to escape. Tliis unrelated event would have 



(-loss days 

 Smoked' 

 n tfi^t^-40 cigarettes per day 

 category. He would have beerf-4 statistic io Table 22. 

 page 52, of the Report. In effect^/by the implied interpre- 

 tation of this table, his injury, due36,a wholly unrelated 

 mechanical accident, would be attribiiii^d to his smoking 31 

 years earlier! " "" X^ 



allowing steam to escaoc. Iius unreiatca event wc 

 shown up in Mor^^fiU fc^port statistics as work-io 

 by a person in the*4Bb64 argt bracket under 'Ever S 

 and 'Former Smoked' In t«^^ -40 cigarettes per 



Not surprisingly, perhaos. the third fault fo(o>d with the "Morbidity 



Report" was that the data supplied in it did not bear out the jrublicizco conci-slons . 



/ 



In this connection, Dr. Sterling ooinied out that the daieioc v/omen. 



33To O! which was based on self-responses comoared tc only 40% for^^an, sho.ved 

 that "female nor-5mokcrs often had more disease than female smokers. " This 



is tho ocnosite of what the renort clairr.s. 



8W-W2-03105 



